Old Time Radio Drama Adventures

Act 3

Bullets whine and buzz around our heroes’ ears as the gorillas lay down a barrage of suppressing fire. The whine of a belt fed machine gun is clearly audible ahead and to their left, but their opponent’s ammunition is running low and will, thankfully, soon run out. The heroes brace themselves for the inevitable charge and note with some satisfaction that, having caught up with the animals in the clearing, the Gorillas are unable to attack from above.

The clearing is very swampy on the far side where a machine gun nest can be seen. On the right hand near side of the clearing is a mud pool. In the center of the clearing on the left are some tall rocks while on the right a little closer to the far side stands a small grassy hill.
Beyond the clearing is a vine covered, old stone bridge over a deep chasm and towering behind it is a stone citadel, barred and gated, reminiscent of a stepped pyramid; the lost city of Zinj.

A pair of apes in a machine gun nest blast a hail of bullets at the heroes from the far side of the clearing as they enter. Two more apes are sniping at them from a pair of trees on the far left edge of the clearing and a group of chimps are charging into the clearing from the right, armed with wicked looking curved knives.

It has taken the team two weeks of tracking the apes and their prisoners through the dense Congolese jungle to reach this point. The apes are the last of the primate army that engaged in a failed raid on the capital in the middle of December. Most of the army deserted after the initial defeat but a handful remained loyal to their leader, Chakra Khan, and launched a daring raid on the Presidential Palace, kidnapping the President’s wife, teenage daughter, and five year old son. Chakra Khan intends to take the girl as his bride and sacrifice the boy on the altar of the Great Monkey God, Akanak. The president’s wife was left at the edge of the capital with her throat ripped out and a note written in her blood spelling out Khan’s intentions.

The air is still and thick with humidity. The scent of cordite and banana plants fills the nose and the group is suddenly aware of the wet earth from the recent tropical rain that has been oozing into their clothing as they lay prone beneath the hail of bullets.

With a roar from the lead chimp, the last few members of the once mighty primate army come charging through the undergrowth, their once proud uniforms torn, the fur matted, and their lips pulled back in fighting snarls that reveal their razor sharp incisors. As they close the last few meters they brandish curved knives and leap with simian strength and grace into battle.

Penelope immediately heads to the tall rocks for some cover and takes out one of the snipers with her pistol. Michael raises his rifle and puts the ape responsible for feeding the ammunition belt into the machine gun out of commission. This effectively neutralises the machine gun nest. Mercedes runs forward to join Penelope and fries a group of the attacking chimps with her disruptor gun. The rest reach the rocks as John tries to make his way around them to the trees in which the snipers were placed. Unfortunately he is now blocked from doing this. Penelope, in a masterful use of her martial arts, somersaults over and behind the chimps to gain an advantageous attack upon them from the rear, thinning their numbers further, while Michael places carefully aimed shots into the group from the treeline.

The remaining sniper peppers John and Mercedes with flesh wounds but the chimps, now surrounded on three sides, flail about ineffectually with their knives.

Mercedes burns the remaining sniper out of the tree with her disruptor gun while John injures the ape remaining at the machine gun nest. Penelope takes down some more of the chimpanzees and the remaining ape, no longer able to operate the machine gun in the nest, charges across the clearing at them in a frenzy. Michael drops the creature before it can close the distance. Only one chimp remains and cowers on the ground with its hands on its head in apparent surrender.

Mercedes looks beyond the clearing to the bridge and sees a pair of orangutans, the last of Chakra Khan’s chief lieutenants, guarding its entrance. On the other side of the gorge she can just make out Chakra Khan himself, the leader of the primate army, his fur matted from weeks in the jungle without the tender ministrations of his harem, nearly insane with frustration at the way his fortunes have been overturned, begging for aid from the Apes that now line the walls of the stepped citadel that stands barred against him. Gone is the tactician and strategist who very nearly brought the mighty Congolese army to its knees. All that remains is a fighting force of nature paired to the inhuman strength of the great ape. Nearby on the ground lie the trussed up bodies of the kidnapped children.

It does not appear to be going well for the mighty Chakra Khan and Mercy, sensing the opening, sets one of the Orangutans aflame with her disruptor gun and sends it screaming from the bridge into the chasm. She calls a warning to her friends that “reinforcments may be on their way” and turns her attention to the other Orangutan. It, however, has not been idle and launches itself into the clearing, an orange blur, reaching for Mercy’s throat. The creature chokes her, expertly rendering her unconscious.

Distracted by the noise of battle, Penelope looks around to see what is happening to Mercy and is stabbed in the leg by the chimp who previously appeared to be surrendering. Seizing the moment, the small creature leaps away towards the treeline and escape. Realising that time is short, Penelope does not give chase, but instead shoots the Orangutan in the head, preventing it from landing the killing blow it intended for Mercy. John immediately begins the work of reviving his unconscious comrade.

Meanwhile at the citadel, the apes have turned away from the mighty Chakra Kahn. His father, a great silver backed bull ape, turns his back on the wayward son who sought, against the Ape King’s will, to bring the world of men to its knees.

Inflamed with hate, Chakra Khan gallops into the clearing. For all his rage, he still wields his twin swords as expertly as before and roaring at the hated enemy before him he charges alone into combat.

Taking a rifle dropped by the Orangutan who fell screaming from the bridge he climbs onto the nearby hillock and fires into the group. Michael retaliates with his weapon and forces the Gorilla to retreat.

Mercy regains consciousness and, realising that Khan intends to kill the hostages in a last act of revenge, hits him with a blast from her disruptor gun. Smoking and singed, he stands above the children, ready to kill them, when a pair of spears whistle down from the defences of the citadel and transfix him, pinning him to the ground just as Mercy hits him with the final charge in her disruptor gun. The gorilla burns like a pyre howling out the last of his rage and disappointment. As the heroes watch, the monkeys and apes lining the citadel depart back inside. The great silverback ape, his face wet with tears of grief, raises an arm in salute and departs after his people.

So, after a furious battle, the ape who dreamed of ridding Africa of its human oppressors lies dead amongst the last of his compatriots. The children, dirty and fear streaked cling to one another whimpering.

The Princess, (before this a typically haughty and selfish teenager) has been reduced to a filthy, bruised and terrified creature, barely recognisable as the girl she was. Her once rich clothing has been reduced to dirty rags from the weeks of jungle travel and she has spent most of her time trussed up like a wild pig. Witnessing her mother’s murder at the hands of Chakra Khan has left her almost catatonic. The ropes used on her arms and legs have been tied cruelly and she will not be able to walk for some time.

The young Prince is in only marginally better condition than the girl. He is covered in bruises from the, none too gentle, handling of his captors. As an intended victim of sacrifice they did little beyond the minimum necessary to keep him alive until they reached their destination. As such he is extremely malnourished and in desperate need of water. He can speak, but the fear and grief of recent weeks breaks out like a dam bursting and he can only weep for his dead mother. The ropes have been equally cruel to the small boy and he will be unable to walk for some time.

After tending to their own wounds and determining how best to minister to the needs of the two terrified children a noise from the vicinity of a large Banyan tree nearby draws the heroes’ attention and a man they recognise steps out.

Wilson (no other name known) looks like the archetypical FBI agent, dressed in black from head to toe and not even breaking a sweat in the African heat. How he manages to show up at the end of a mission (wherever they happen to be in the world) emerging like a ghost from any particularly dense patch of shadow is a complete mystery. He is the errand boy for “The League of Adventure Seekers” and in particular, its current president, Miriam Ribbensberg.

Affecting an air of complete boredom at the sight of the dead gorillas that communicates volumes about how much he resents having to communicate with mere underlings like the heroes, Wilson sighs, steps forward and says, “you are needed in New York”. He passes an envelope to Dr. Waters, wrinkling his nose and handling it over as if it were a dead rat. It contains some private correspondence and some tickets of passage on the first plane leaving Kinshasa for the Coast and then boat passage back to New York.

As usual, his errand complete, he gives the group members a supercilious glance before stepping back into the shadows and vanishing from sight.

The letter is from Amanda Vartell a dear friend of Dr Waters’ who he had been able to assist in one of his many previous adventures. She is 28 years old, single, prim, proper, bespectacled, and every inch the living embodiment of an acid-tongued head librarian. Given to wearing rough tweed and favoring a rosehip perfume as her only concession to the use of cosmetics, she runs the Special Collections Archive of the New York City Library as her own mini-fiefdom. Smart, no-nonsense, and intolerant of those who are less gifted than herself, she could easily be resented by her colleagues, but a saving sense of humour and underlying generosity of spirit, coupled with her clear ability in the workplace, has won her their respect. She has few friends (but those she has are devoted to her) and she indulges in strange hobbies. When her unusually deep and melodious voice is not issuing peremptory orders in the library, she spends her free time researching a book she is writing on the Occult History of New York. Her manner is abrupt and to the point and she issues commands to those around her like an aristocrat who is accustomed to being obeyed rather than questioned. To those who do not know her well she can appear haughty and arrogant and her strong self-belief leads her to take risks at inappropriate times. She is also extremely impatient. Her most outstanding feature is that one of her eyes is green while the other is light blue.

The letter reads…

“Dear friend,

It has been too long since we last exchanged letters and I wish that circumstances were not pressing me to write briefly now. I believe I am in danger. For some days my every move has been shadowed.

I may have been a little indiscreet about some of the discoveries I have made while researching my book and someone appears to have taken an unsavoury interest in the results.

The essential focus of that interest appears to be the enclosed page from a book I found during my research in the Special Collection here at the New York City Library.

Please come to New York as soon as you can. I can’t explain it, but I feel sure my life is in danger. If you could present yourselves at my apartment at 10.00 am on February 5 I will do my best to make everything clear.

Your friend, Amanda Vartell”

The letter also contains a handwritten page torn from a book of indeterminate age, some travel tickets, and a booking at the Sheraton Heights boarding house. The book page is covered in odd hieroglyphs.

Safely returning the children to their grief stricken but grateful father in Kinshasa the heroes bid Africa fairwell and turn their attention to New York.

EXPERIENCEAWARDS
Surviving the adventure: 10 xp
Defeating the chimps: 5 xp
Defeating the lieutenants: 4 xp
Defeating Chakra Khan: 3 xp (partial)
Rescuing the kidnap victims: 5 xp
Use of terrain: 2 bonus xp for Penelope (using the rocks as cover and as a means to vault over the attacking monkeys)
Witnessing the interaction at the citadel: 2 bonus xp for Mercy
GMs bonus point: 1 bonus xp to John Waters’ for reviving a team-mate (Mercy)
Bonus xp: 1 point xp for commenting on this post for Penelope

Act 1

Our heroes awaken in darkness of their hotel rooms to hear stealthy movement. A fight ensues in which a strange weapon discharges (missing the heroes) and the intruders – two men in black suits – fade from view. Left behind is a box of dark glasses (spectacles) and a list of addresses – the fourth belonging to the heroes. The glasses allow the wearer to see through a “zone of compulsion” that has been thrown over the city to mask the activities of the intruders. The heroes rooms are splashed with slime and a trail of slime leads into the corridor and over to a window where it ends. Also in the corridor stands the figure of a woman covered in a strange substance. Penelope is encased in this substance as well. She is slowly breathing but otherwise appears to have been set in impermeable jelly. None of this is visible to anyone who is not wearing the glasses.
Following the trail of locations the heroes note a number of people who are as still as statues, set in the same way as the woman in the hotel corridor, and just as invisible to anyone not wearing the glasses. People and vehicles go around them without seeming to notice that they are doing so. Passing one of the statues, the heroes are surprised to note that at least one person in the city – one of the many unemployed who live in the shantytown of Indigo Park judging by his sorry attire – appears to be able to see them. When spotted, he is poking at one of the people on the street who have been trapped in suspended animation. He is apparently suffering from some kind of mental illness, talking to himself continuously in mumbles or shouting incoherently. When approached he pulls a gun which he then quickly puts away when he sees who the heroes are.
Talking with him the heroes discover he is Dr Sam Johnson and that at one time he was a mathematician at Star City University who was fired when he began to claim his understanding of mathematics allowed him to see into other dimensions and along other wavelengths unperceived by normal human beings. He is surprised that the heroes can see the trapped people and is fascinated by the glasses that allow it to happen. Mostly, he wants to figure out the mathematics behind how it was done and feels sure it is just within his grasp. He insists on following the heroes around muttering to himself from this point on. As they depart with Dr. Johnson in tow the heroes realise they are being followed. At every attempt to flush out their pursuers the men (dressed in dark suits) slip away before they can be identified.

Act 2

A large portion of the city has been blacked out and the second address is in the heart of the blacked out district. Arriving at the HQ of Star City Coal and Power the heroes find a large hole in the ground from which two of the city’s enormous power generators have been removed. Nearby stands a small tripod surmounted by an odd cylinder with a strange trigger mechanism. When fired the cylinder atomises anything it strikes to a depth of 3 or 4 inches. Repeated/continual application of the trigger reveals it to be a form of atomic drill (but the power pack is almost empty).
Fortunately, it appears that only one night watchman has been trapped in suspended animation. Dr. Johnson examines the drill and becomes very excited. He claims he can see exactly how the device works and begins to rave about its military applications. The tripod is locked in place and seems completely immovable.
The third location on the list is the wireless broadcasting station for WRZP Star City. As the heroes approach, the team members wearing the glasses see a group of flying tentacular creatures pass overhead with a large amount of machinery suspended between them by some kind of green energy beam. The creatures are heading back towards the centre of the city. Much of the building is missing along with the station’s powerful broadcasting machinery and antenna. Snagged on a piece of rubble nearby is a piece of parchment with a strange symbol on it. From the hill on which the broadcasting station sits the heroes (who are wearing the glasses) notice for the first time a huge building towering over the centre of the city. It is a building never seen before and at its apex is an odd pulsing green light. Without the glasses the monstrous building is invisible. On realizing the heroes can see the building, Dr. Johnson begins raving about how that is “their” HQ and that it must be destroyed for the good of humanity.
There are a handful of people, night staff mostly, who are trapped in suspended animation. Despite Johnson’s ravings, and despite the instances of suspended animation and property damage, no one has yet been killed as a result of the night’s events.
The first stop on the list is Grand Central Station. Arriving, the heroes find the station in complete disarray. Police are everywhere but appear to be in total confusion. The engines of all the trains in the station have been stolen leaving only their metal shells behind. A large number of trapped people can be seen near the trains (though they remain invisible to anyone without the glasses). Huge holes can be seen in the covered portions of the station over the engines suggesting the engines were carried away into the air. Near the lead train, half hidden in the shadow of a pillar lies a box of strange looking respirators. When someone tries to speak while wearing it their voices are electronically altered and their words emerge in a strange language (one that is harsh and painful to the ear) that cannot be understood by anyone other than Dr. Johnson.
The fourth address is that of the heroes hotel rooms and it is obvious that the visitors were searching for something when they were interrupted. Clearly they did not find it, whatever it was.
The huge building (that can only be seen with the glasses) is a no longer vacant lot right in the centre of the city (sitting between the HQ of Police and the City Council). This land has been vacant for as long as anyone can remember – and unlike every other piece of empty property in Star City, has not been settled by indigent squatters and the unemployed. With the aid of the glasses the heroes can now see the reason. The apparently empty land harbours a monstrous art-deco skyscraper that towers over the entire city. A large marble stairway leads up to three huge doors. Over each is a strange symbol – one of which matches that of the page the heroes found at the Radio Station. Taking this entrance the heroes enter. The air has a strange green hue and the heroes are forced to don the respirators to continue or fall unconscious. At each junction of what proves to be a giant maze the heroes follow the symbol until they enter a cavernous (hive-like) central chamber.
Two enormous (40 foot long) couches dominate the chamber. One holds the inert form of a cyclopean cephalopod. The other holds an exoskeletal shell from a similar creature long dead. The couches are covered in strange controls and glowing symbols. Johnson believes this is some kind of control centre. In front of the nearest couch stand two small tentacular beings with membranous wings and oozing slime.
They welcome the heroes to the council chamber of the Arun-Set and compliment tem on following the trail that was left for them. Before the speakers can finish their welcome Johnson draws his gun and tries to put a bullet into one of them. Fortunately, Dr John Waters tackles him to the ground. Alarms sound and hundreds of the creatures descend from the ceiling, seizing the heroes in their powerful tentacles – trapping them completely.

Act 3

The creature who was shot at intervenes to prevent the heroes from being torn apart. It explains that the Arun-Set are a race who have been enslaved for millennia but now, due to the death of the Second Archon, are free. The hive was originally controlled by two Archons but one died in the time of the dinosaurs when the hive first crash-landed on earth. With the power of control effectively halved his servants stalemated the remaining Archon. He could control them within the confines of the hive but could not use them to conquer the planet. Now, the slaves are free to depart if they can get the hive to run again. It is imperative that they do so, since, when the first Archon began to decay, it resulted in the extinction of the dinosaurs. Having used the resources of the city to affect the necessary repairs, all that remains for them to do is to secure a power source sufficient to energise the hive. Such a power source is, they believe, in the possession of the heroes – the crystal that powers the teleportation portal between the two Meso-American monoliths created by the Techno-Master. Retrieval of the crystal is all that stands between this race and freedom – and all that may prevent the immanent extinction of the human race.
Having had the urgency of the request impressed upon them, the heroes leave the tower and begin to get in their car when a pair of black suited individuals (carrying FBI badges) appear and open fire. A high-speed car chase ensues and the pursuers are lost in a back alley allowing the heroes to retrieve the crystal. Dr. Johnson, however, slips away at the hotel and contacts the FBI, alerting them to the heroes’ location. He is determined that the aliens must be kept on earth so that we can learn the secrets of their technology. Special agent Ralph Thomas arrives as the heroes attempt to leave and tells informs them that they are under arrest on suspicion of sabotage throughout the city on behalf of a hostile foreign power. The heroes vanish under the alien’s field of compulsion as the aliens arrive to take them back to the hive, leaving Dr. Johnson to be arrested by the FBI.
The aliens take the crystal and return to the hive. Minutes later the hive slowly takes off like a rocket rising slowly into the sky. Moving through the atmosphere the zone of compulsion eventually fades. All those trapped in suspended animation emerge, visible and free to move once more (if a little sticky). The atomic drill is gone (it looks as though the concrete on which it stood has been dug up in order to move it), taken by the FBI. Dr. Johnson, who claimed to have unlocked the mathematical key to the alien technology is whisked away by the FBI also – never to be heard from in Star City again. Agent Thomas, in charge of the FBI team, has nothing he can hold the heroes on and releases them after many hours of questioning – but warns them that he will be watching from now on. The missing Star City infrastructure is never found and a giant crater now stands in the vacant lot between City Hall and Police HQ.

Act 1

Our heroes are requested to visit a Medium, currently in prison for Charlatanism (being unable to raise the bail money) at the Star City Correctional Center. She goes by the nom-de-plume of Madame Sofia Maleficent. After being passed through the prison gates into a room where a phone must be used for communication our Heroes are informed that great destruction is about to be wrought upon the city (and then the world). The heroes must be in the South Western Corner of the Star City Cemetery at 1.00 am this night if they are to find the tools to prevent the calamity, and they must return to the prison by 9.00 am if they are to have further assitance “from the other side”.

1.00 am in the cemetery finds the heroes encountering a group of very nervous, very armed grave robbers. Before they can be approached the grave-robbers are attacked by what appear to be the walking dead. The group is led by Catharine Filmore, the scientist and wife of fellow scientist Marcus Filmore, famed both for her scientific genius, rudeness, and short temper. When rescued they explain that they used to work for Filmore Labs and that they fear for their lives because they are trying to develop a counteragent for a disease created by their employer (Marcus Filmore) who they are certain has gone mad. The disease effectively shuts down the brain leaving the victim, to all appearances, in a comatose state. The victim can then be issued simple commands directly into the brain (if you know the right frequency for broadcast). The disease could be used to enslave an entire city (or perhaps the whole world). The heroes agree to help hide the researchers in the decommissioned Osterman Lab buildings so that they can continue to look for a cure. Unknown to the researchers, the living are not being turned into zombies. Instead the living are being infected with an agent that creates an energy field that animates nearby dead tissue. One of their number, Melanie Wilkes, is already infected from drinking bottled water at the lab. It is the overlapping energy fields of the victims that allow wide ranging commands to be broadcast.

Act 2

Back at the prison Madame Maleficent informs the heroes that an outbreak is about to occur and that it will result in the collapse of the Star City University Female Dormitory at around 1.00 pm resulting in much loss of life before spreading throughout the city. The heroes have some chance at putting an end to the menace if they can prevent the building collapse, but regardless of their success or failure, the city will be in quarantine before the middle of the afternoon. When they arrive the building appears to still be intact, however checking the basement and sewers they find hordes of zombies and skeletons working to destroy the foundations. Flames are the only thing that will force the invaders back, but they will soon resume their attack.

The command they have received is to destroy the foundations of this building and they will keep going until the job is done or they are all destroyed. Realising they have little chance of preventing the collapse, the heroes trip the fire alarm and evacuate the building. The collapse of the building destroys the zombies and accounts for the bodies found in the wreckage.

Immediately following the building’s collapse the heroes are found by Todd Morley, one of the renegade researchers and are asked back to the labs. By mid afternoon, the city is in a panic, people are seeing the walking dead everywhere and the mayor orders that the city be locked down and that people clear the streets. Most of the dead are vacant eyed and merely stand around doing nothing. The police open fire on anyone found in the streets and all traffic in and out of the city is blocked off.

Commissioner Doogan treats any offers of assistance from the heroes with barely concealed contempt.

The researchers at the hidden lab have discovered the source of the infection – the water supply (by studying the patterns of the outbreaks so far) and have realised that it is the living rather than the dead who are the source of the animation field. They have developed a counteragent which they have tested successfully on Melanie Wilkes.

They have also developed a large and unwieldy aerosol (carried in a backpack) that will temporarily disrupt the effects of the animation field. But it only has 4 applications before it runs out. The source of the infection is the Northern most Chiswell River Water Pumping and Treatment Station. Just as the group is ready to leave, Terry Marks arrives with a blueprint of the pumping station obtained from the Town Planning Office at the City Council. The best place to introduce the counteragent is directly into the pumping chamber.
The heroic band sets out to introduce the counteragent at the treatment plant while the research team stays behind to manufacture more aerosol. Doing so they trek across a city now under martial law, in which police are authorised to shoot anyone found on the streets and the dead are attempting to collapse the very buildings in which the populace are sheltering.

Initially they encounter a gunfight between looters and police, soon after they encounter another gunfight between police and a small group of shambling corpses.

The corpses do not actually engage the police and are eventually hacked apart. As they get closer to the pumping station they are nearly crushed by a collapsing building. The perimeter of the pumping station itself is surrounded by hundreds of corpses from the cemetery that have been tasked with destroying anyone who tries to enter. A nearby crashed fire truck provides a means of entry via its ladder. The dead do not pursue our heroes once inside – they were to attack anyone trying to get in, NOT anyone that actually got inside.

It is fairly quick work to find the main pumping chamber and insert the counter-agent. But as they turn to leave they find the exit blocked by 8 hitherto extinct Velociraptors that then herd them into a large empty treatment chamber. Here they find the Technomaster mounted on a T-Rex, broadcast control box strapped behind the beast’s head.

Here also are Marcus Filmore and Tegan Rodriguez hanging from the ceiling in chains. Howler monkeys appear from the dark recesses of the ceiling and attempt to chain our heroes as wll.

“Yes, you were expected. Your pitiful success at introducing a counteragent to the water supply makes no difference to my plan. It will take a significant amount of time for the counteragent to displace the toxins I have already introduced.

By then, my minions will have all but destroyed this city and I will have escaped, my revenge
accomplished. Bwa ha ha ha ha ha! But never fear, you will not be abandoned. I will return before long and will take great pleasure in killing you all slowly.” Kicking the sides of the T-Rex with his prosthetic heels, the creature gives a roar and charges into the night, the velociraptors following in his wake.

Act 3

At this point in time, when all seems lost, the research team break in with flame throwers to hold back the undead. The rescue was instigated by one of the members who has a crush on one of the heroes. The heroes are unchained and both Marcus Filmore and Tegan Rodriguez are filled with remorse for their part in the plot. Both were drugged by the Techno-Master and set to work preparing his revenge. Tegan, in particular, has finally been faced with her own weakness and begs the heroes forgiveness for turning against them over the death of her husband. Both explain the nature of the TechnoMaster’s plot (to raid the City’s gold deposits at the Star City Bank) and the means by which his control over the undead is achieved. They direct the heroes to an ante-chamber (containing a control box) that connects to a warehouse in which a large number of (currently docile) dinosaur skeletons can be found.

Mounting the dinosaurs (and with the help of the control box and fresh supplies of dissilution spray and flame throwers supplied by the researchers) the heroes set out for the bank.

They arrive to find the bank has been collapsed and hordes of undead are busy loading gold into trucks that will then be driven to the wharfs for the Techno-Master’s escape.
A fight ensues between the heroes on one side and the TechnoMaster and his dinosaur minions on the other. The dissolution spray gives the heroes the advantage and the techno-master is caught in a blast from a flame-thrower and finally dies.

Destroying the techno-Master’s control box puts an end to the activity of the undead who immediately become dormant. As the counteragent spreads through the water supply, the undead collapse and become merely dead again. The Techno-Master’s notebook and spell disks are recovered, as is the crystal that opens the portal in the obelisk, along with Marcus Filmore’s prototype prosthetics.

It will take some time to rebuild the collapsed areas of town and rebuild the foundations of many of the buildings that have been undermined, but Tegan Rodriguez and a number of other captains of industry happily turn their wealth to the task. In fact the capital works expenditure required will employ many of the city’s residents who were put out of work by the Wall Street collapse and may even put the city on the road to financial recovery.
Tegan Rodriguez is reconciled to the heroes and even the Police Chief, Doogan, is grateful to them for defeating the menace and holds a reception in their honor. Madame Sofia Maleficent is granted a pardon by the governor and is included in the festivities. Miriam Ribbensberg sends a telegram congratulating the heroes on their success and confirming that the immediate threat sensed by her sister Marianne is gone. She also informs them that their first four adventures will be printed in the League’s monthly adventure magazine under the “Gripping Tales” imprint – a great honour indeed.

The only thing that mars the festivities is a hand delivered note…

Dear Dupes,

Lest you feel too proud of yourselves I thought I would let you know you have helped me achieve all of my goals. Pray I never make such fools of you again.
-Madame S.

P.S Don’t let yourselves worry about John Whistler’s old things. Apparently he recorded everything; his researches (both magical and mundane), his formulas, and the schematics for his inventions. Such information is just too dangerous to leave lying around so I’ve taken it upon myself to see that they are looked after properly.TTFN.

Sofia Maleficent is gone and with her have gone the notebooks, schematics, and journal belonging to the now deceased Techno-Master.

Act 1

Strange things are afoot in Star City. Some prototype prosthetic legs are stolen from Bellamy Laboratories by, of all things, a group of trained howler monkeys, and make headlines in the Star City Tribune on the day our heroes receive some theatre tickets.

“Tickets to the theatre from a grateful city” says the type on the letter awaiting our heroes this evening. They are invited to a special 9.00 PM encore screening of “King Kong” – the documentary that took the city by storm when it opened two months ago.

In reality, however, it is bait for a trap planned by Tommy Boscone who has finally stopped waiting for our Heroes to leave town.

Mercy Jones has the sense that they are being followed around town by someone wearing a colourful poncho when they head off to the theatre.

Travelling the short distance by cab (driven by the ever faithful Jordan Wilson) to the steep alleyway in which the Tibalt is located they arrive on a scene that is strangely dark and empty. The Tibalt Theatre itself is unlit and boarded up (appearing to have been closed for some time) and the group senses a trap. Mercy keeps watch as the remaining members of the group return to their hotel to dress for action. On their return they approach cautiously and note the presence of some shadowy figures down a side alley. Reaching the theatre, Mercy decides to look at the notice on the door but is interrupted when a voice in the distance cries “a little gift from Tommy Boscone” and men with Tommy guns spring from nearby doorways and open fire.

Michael Schneider returns fire briefly and seeks to get a nearby manhole cover open. Leaving a handful of thugs dead on the opposite rooftop the heroes clamber down into the familiar darkness of the Star City Sewers. Before anything else can happen, out of the darkness comes a little man in a large hat and poncho carrying a small hand cranked siren. He introduces himself asFelicio Dominguez and says, with a marked South American accent, that he has for some days been looking for a way to approach the heroes and ask their aid.

He explains that he is here at the behest of his brother Jose to beg the characters to come to South America where he can provide evidence that Claire Mannix was under the control of another will when she committed the crimes that she now awaits the death sentence for. His brother and Claire were engaged to be married before the terrible events that saw her become enslaved to the Techno-Master and Jose believes their love can be saved along with her life if the heroes are willing to intervene.

His brother could not come himself as he has been captured to work as a slave in the City of the Golden Spider, the Techno-master’s new HQ somewhere in the Peruvian Jungle near Ayacucho, Peru – a town now mentioned only in fearful whispers as many members of the population appear to have vanished without a trace. A guide named Arturo Majalel will be able to lead them there and he can be found in Nazca, a fair way down the southern coast from Lima.

Just as this information has been imparted and odd hissing noise is heard and a huge Tarantula spider with metal tipped legs scuttles into view. It hisses some more arches its back and launches spines from its rear end. Felicio is hit and begins to convulse almost immediately. The spines have been coated in the resin of the castor bean – an extremely powerful neuro-toxin that causes internal organs to rupture and burst (among other highly painful and slow symptoms). Acting quickly to apply a form of weird homeopathy, whereby the poison could be counteracted by further poison, Dr Waters saves Jose’s life. He is left comatose and, safe from pursuit, the heroes carry him to the hospital for treatment.

Destroying the spider, the heroes discover it is mounted with a familiar looking remote control device. Unfortunately, Michael’s attempt to fathom its workings results in the machinery breaking down completely.

Act 2

Our Heroes need to make their way to Peru and that means getting out of Star City Alive. Tommy Boscone is now playing for keeps and plants a bomb in their hotel room which Michael Schneider defuses (and sends to Dillon Tremere full of confetti). The roads, rail, and airports are being watched by Tommy Boscone’s men but it is not too difficult for them to be given the slip. At the airport they attempt to leave using Penelope’s plane “Evelyn” and Boscone’s men attempt to block the runway with a jeep. Michael manages to flip the jeep with a well-placed shot to the tires before the criminals can succeed in thwarting the take-off.

Once in Lima the heroes travel half a day by truck convoy to Nazca. The town is a small trading post where goods are shipped up into the Andes.

On arrival in Nazca the heroes are met by the Police and brought before Gomez Santiago (a corrupt local official) who immediately places them under arrest on suspicion of being involved in a plot to smuggle South American children into the U.S to serve in brothels. They are not segregated from the other prisoners and must fight to be left alone and unmolested.

Together, the group faces down a bevy of prison thugs before being offered the protection of Jesus Martinez (prison boss and chief smuggler of Peru). Using a bit of weird genius, Dr Waters creates an organic acid from human waste to eat through the lock and stages a mass jailbreak that results in the police chief (Santiago) being horsewhipped around the square in his underwear. While they have made a mortal enemy of Santiago they have also made an ally of Martinez.

At this point Arturo Majalel appears to lead the group to safety. He says he has been paid well to get them to Ayacucho where his daughter waits for him. His truck holds a bunch of large crates (one of which has a U.S point of origin stamped on it).

Ayacucho is a small mountain village beset by a tropical storm when the heroes arrive. It is empty. Majalel shows surprise and consternation that his daughter is missing. Signs of struggle abound. Goods have not been packed. Dinner’s remain on tables. Truck tracks lead into the jungle.

“Slavers” is the conclusion that Majalel reaches. “Probably the cult you are seeking – take me with you”. Tyre tracks lead into the jungle.

The heroes follow the trail into the jungle finally coming to the walls of a city.

Michael climbs to the top of the wall where he can see the general layout of the city. There is a huge excavation pit, a massive stepped pyramid, a long low structure that appears to currently serve as a combination pen and prison, and an odd round building.that appears to serve some ceremonial purpose. Before he can do much else he is set upon by armed howler monkeys. He takes off using his jetpack to lure them away. These mutant monkeys, inhabiting the city in huge numbers, each have a control box and are armed. They are also easily distracted and are quickly led out of the city in a huge wave allowing the rest of the team to sneak into the city. They heroes make their way to the “Temple of the skulls” – the low building being used as a prison and on entry the bars are locked behind them. Majalel has betrayed them (“Don’t hate me, they have my daughter”) and appears to be in charge. He had been sent to Star City to steal the prosthetics for the technomaster and eliminate Felicio Dominguez. A number of human guards can be seen in the familiar garb of the Cult of the Teeth.

Within the temple they meet the chief of the slaves , Julio Chavez.
Julio Chavez reveals the following –
• Many of the villagers sided with the Techno-Master because of his demonstration of magic. They might turn against him if he is successfully challenged for the High Priesthood. The challenge is in the form of a magical duel.
• Panels at the rear of the temple reveal that the Crocodile god dispossessed an older god from worship here in the City of the Gold Spider. This older God was a river God embodied by the Scorpion Fish. His statue and the discs that hold his spells were buried in a cave at the bottom of a well here in the city. If found these spells may supply sufficient power to challenge the cult leader.
• He gives the heroes small hand-made necklaces with an odd disc on them. These allow them to read the hieroglyphs (and apparently provide some form of protection against minor evils).

They also meet Jose Dominguez. Jose is very sick but reveals how the archaeological party that contained Claire Mannix were attacked and force fed drugs and potions that placed them under the control of “the Techno-Master” before being despatched back to the U.S to fulfil his nefarious plans. He says the Techno-Master keeps supplies of the mind-control potion and a journal containing his researches in his sanctum at the Great Pyramid of the Spider. Apparently the Techno-Master has a particular hatred for the U.S and Star City in particular.

The temple of skulls holds the remaining villagers who have been forced to undertake manual labor digging for something that the Cult’s leader wants. Apparently this object was recovered two days ago and they have now been locked up without food or water since. It seems most likely that they will be left to starve to death now that they have served the evil monster’s purpose.

Meanwhile outside, the human guards, noticing the city has been abandoned by its monkey protectors emerge to investigate what has happened. Michael is returning to the city and they open fire on him, hitting his jetpack and forcing him to make an emergency landing in their midst where they take him prisoner.

Mercy overcomes the guards and uses her hairpins to unlock the prison but the group is forced to surrender on seeing Michael awaiting execution amidst a group of the technomaster’s human guards.

The guards drag our heroes along the Sacred Way to the Well of Sacrifice.
Here, amidst the bones of the long dead, they are tried before the cult for their opposition to the will of the Crocodile God. Their past actions (ending the alligator menace, and defeating the cult in Star City) are brought forth as evidence.

They are given the opportunity to either join the Technomaster (who is now walking with the aid of the prosthetics stolen by Arturo in Star City) or attempt to refute the charges before they are judged and thrown into the well of sacrifice – a deep pool of ravenous scorpion fish. Judgement is accomplished by calling to the dead. Mercy and Dr Waters attempt to bluff the Technomaster into believing they wish to join him. They submit to drinking the villain’s mind control potion. Dr Waters is able to resist but Mercy succumbs. The Techno-Master demonstrates his power by calling on the bones in this place to rise and point to the guilty and Penelope and Michael are condemned.

The dead rise and point to the prisoners (as he reads from a couple of discs lashed together with leather ties).

As the heroes are herded to the well a young woman is pushed forward. It is Rosa Majalel, Arturo’s daughter. She has been selected for sacrifice. Arturo falls on his knees “You said you would spare her if I cooperated” he pleads. Grinning, the techno-master replies that only a member of the true blood would make a suitable sacrifice and with no-one to take her place – she is the obvious choice. Majalel pleads to be thrown into the pool in her place and laughing, the Technomaster agrees.

The heroes and Majalel are thrown in the well. The cap is placed over the opening plunging everything into darkness and glowing scorpion fish converge from all sides to attack.

Act 3

The necklaces about the heroes necks begin to glow and try as they might the fish cannot approach. Majalel is not so lucky, but Penelope grabs him and helps protect him from the attack of the scorpion fish. Far below in the water is a strange blue glow as if light is entering the water from somewhere in the deep. Swimming down the heroes find a passage way that opens up into a temple chamber of sorts. At its center stands a huge stylised statue of a Scorpion Fish and from its fins hang a pair of disks similar to the ones seen earlier in the hands of the Techno-Master.

Most of the spells are unreadable but of the two that can be read, one creates some kind of super-powerful magical shield, while the other allows the caster to combine and draw from the magical energy of others.

At the rear of the chamber is a hidden passage. It leads directly to the Great Pyramid of the Spider, opening into a huge treasure chamber. The door to the chamber is locked but can be forced or picked without too much trouble. Bursting through the heroes enter into the court of challenge directly below the seat of the high priest. The high priest’s seat is surmounted by the defaced symbols of the scorpion fish and newer symbols of the crocodile cult. It is also moulded in the shape of a giant gold spider. To the left of this throne stands an obelisk that could be a twin to one standing in Star City Natural History Museum. Mercy and Dr Waters stand in the Technomaster’s entourage.

Taken aback by the sudden appearance of those he has so recently sentenced to death, the Techno-Master orders their immediate killing. Mercy however, committed to the cult through the agency of the Brain Washing potion though she is, challenges the Technomaster for control. His guards hesitate because the heroes stand in the court of challenge and the challenge must not go unanswered.

The Techno-Master calls up the dead and a number of zombies break out of the floor and begin shambling towards Mercy. Mercy uses her own telekinetic ability to wrest the technomaster’s spell disks away from him. The technomaster realizing the jig is up tries to escape and Michael disables his prosthetic legs just in front of the obelisk. All but defeated he takes the extremely risky chance to activate the teleportation crystal and escape through the obelisk, even though the door on the other side was destroyed in the previous adventure in Star City. Michael shoots the crystal causing an explosion. The last the heroes see of the technomaster is his flaming visage as he passes out of view. Dr Waters uses the distraction to head out into the jungle and try to synthesise a cure for Mercy’s condition. To give John time, Penelope challenges Mercy to a magical duel. Mercy’s ability is just as decisive this time but John succeeds in finding an antidote and administering it, returning Mercy to her The cult members immediately prostrate themselves before the heroes.

The cult is now under the control of the heroes and the heroes soon order the release of the prisoners. The heroes are not allowed to leave the city while the high priesthood is theirs, but a simple transfer of the responsibilities to Julio Chavez fixes that. He offers the players the wealth of the city (if they use it for the pursuit of justice) ending any financial difficulties they may have encountered. Jose gathers up the evidence that proves Claire Mannix was innocent and begs the heroes to return to Star City with it and free Claire from death-row. The heroes agree. Arturo and his daughter depart in shame, never to be seen again. Dr Waters gathers up the now broken, but still weirdly pulsing crystal that was embedded in the obelisk.

EXPERIENCEAWARDS
Adventure completion: 10 xp each
Discovering the trap at the Tibalt: 1 xp each
Saving the life of Felicio Dominguez: 2xp for Dr Waters
Escaping Star City: 1 xp each plus 1xp for Michael Schneider’s decisive intervention
Escaping Nazca Prison: 1 xp each plus 1xp for Dr Waters
Finding the city of the gold spider: : 2 xp each
Saving Arturo: 2 xp for Penelope
Recovering the scorpion fish disks: 2 xp for Penelope and Michael
Defeating the technomaster in a magical duel: 2 xp for Mercy
Recovering the evidence to clear Claire Mannix: 1 xp each.
Recovering the crystal from the Obelisk: 1 xp each.
Bonus points:
1 xp to Michael for leading the howlers away
1 xp to Dr Waters for curing Mercy
1 xp to Penelope for placing herself in harms way to buy Dr Waters time
GM’s bonus : 2 xp to Mercy for roleplaying herself while under the Technomaster’s mind control.
1xp bonus to Mercy, Penelope, and Michael for commenting on this summary.

Act 1

While Councillor Lloyd Jansen promotes an anti-vigilante bill at the office of Mayor FrankWright, Havelock Maynard III comes to town to hunt and make a trophy of one of the giant albino alligators that were plaguing the city until recently. He is a glory hound and headline seeker with a gift for coming too late to most newsworthy events.

He is also a friend (if only one who is annoying and embarrassing to be seen with). He has talked our Heroes into dinner at the Metro on the first night of his arrival. In typical fashion he has wired the newspapers ahead of his visit and has been making ink for some days. Amidst the photographers and news reporters sit our heroes, uncomfortably aware that Maynard is basking in their reflected notoriety when suddenly the restaurant is invaded by a group of 6 South Americans in the garb of savages. A fight ensues as the intruders attempt to kill the heroes with blowguns.

They run when 3 of their number are out of action. They have the disconcerting ability to melt into the shadows. When pursued they disappear somewhere near the University district. While trying to escape, the leader of the attackers drops a collapsible blow-gun with a weird blue diamond tipped dart in it.

Havelock is ecstatic at these events. Tomorrow’s headlines will be drawn from tonight’s escapade and plays up his heroism in typically annoying fashion.

Act 2

The next day the police wake our heroes with the news that Havelock is dead, found killed in ritual fashion at the university library. They are asked to attend. Attending the scene, the heroes find Havelock’s body, a strange symbol carved into his forehead (that looks like a fang), and his heart removed. There is a great deal of blood. In Maynard’s hand is a crumpled photo of a girl.

The college dean (Allistair Standish) asks to see the heroes and reveals that three girls have gone missing from the college dorms in the last two weeks. No-one has heard anything of them until now – the photo is of one of the missing girls (Shelley Rossiter). All of the girls belong to the Beta Phi Sorority. He will be happy to put the heroes in touch with the Sorority head, Claire Mannix – a sensible girl of sober habits and dependable nature.

Caesar Cordova, head of the Cordova crime family sends his goons to bring the heroes to a mobile meeting as soon as the heroes leave the campus. He insists that the girls at the university are in danger and that the Dean, Allistair Standish, has something to do with it. He wants the heroes to look into it (and hints darkly that he will be very grateful). When pressed, it turns out that his neice, Marjory Ellison (on his wife’s side) is attending the university and he will look very negatively on anyone who lets anything happen to her.
When let out of the car, another car pulls up and an envelope is thrown at the heroes feet. It contains a typed note which reads; “Your days are numbered, get out of town now, or else. This is your last warning. – Tommy Boscone.” The car roars away.

The dorm room has been turned upside down. There is no sign of the girl to be found but some blood is on the doorframe. The only thing that appears odd is a leaflet poking out from the mattress advertising “Party Venue of the Year, Warehouse 6 on pier 3 of the Star City docks”.

The warehouse looks abandoned with no sign of a “party” anywhere. Entering the warehouse one of the heroes steps on a hidden plate releasing a strong sleeping gas.
The players awaken bound and gagged before a large golden altar.

Act 3

Standing in front of the Altar is a pale girl in the ritual garb of a South American priestess. It is Claire Mannix, her eyes showing a strange gleam. Tied down to the altar is Shelley Rossiter, mercifully unconscious. Behind and to the left of Claire stands Allistaire Standish (also in cult clothing) looking miserable, and behind them both stands a strange obelisk of stone carved with odd symbols (recognizable as the one stolen recently from the Natural History Museum).

Over the tied girl hangs a lamp with a glowing piece of coal in it.

In front of the altar stand four cultists.

Claire is feeling talkative and reveals the following.

We are the cult of the teeth, dedicated to the worship of the alligator god.

The recent events in the city have made Star City holy to us so we have come here to worship.

Blasphemer’s such as Havelock Maynard III could not be allowed to despoil the favored creatures of the Alligator God.

Standish has been blackmailed into supplying the cult with victims. I have compromising photos of him in flagrante delecto with… myself.

Tonight only one sacrifice is needed to finally charge the Stone of Iridion to full capacity. Once charged a portal will be opened and the stone ( a power source of some kind) will be passed through to the cult’s sponsor.

It is this sponsor who has rescued the cult from near destruction and given it this glorious opportunity to rise again.

She checks with Standish that the heroes have been properly tied. He responds in the affirmative, but gives the heroes a meaningful look. She clearly treats him with contempt and it is also clear that he feels nothing but hatred for her.

The bonds, when tested, are actually rather weak and could, with some work be removed. Obvious weaponry has been removed (but the collapsible blow gun has been overlooked).
Before the heroes can make good their escape Claire begins chanting and plunges a knife into the captured girls chest. As the players watch, the lump of coal begins to glow blue and form into a crystal or diamond of some kind. With a strange ringing noise the glow fades leaving a perfect crystal hanging in the lamp.

Claire reaches for it and takes it to the obelisk where a small depression sits in the middle.
As Claire begins to take the crystal towards the obelisk the heroes are freed. They hesitate as the cultists in front of the altar turn to deal with them and Standish suddenly yells “hit the crystal you fools”.

Putting the crystal into the depression the obelisk begins to shimmer strangely and then become transparent. The space within the obelisk seems to ripple and a figure can be seen on the other side, cowled and cloaked. Seated in some kind of conveyance that is rolling towards the opening. He reaches out to take the crystal.

The players fire the blue dart into it. Destroying the crystal causes the portal to explode releasing a huge amount of energy.

Standish is killed instantly. Unhurt cult members take off into the shadows of the Warehouse.

Claire Mannix is badly wounded and appears to not know where she is or what she was doing. The police are hostile because of rumours that the heroes are working for the Cordovas, not helped at all by the card of thanks sent by Caesar Cordova.

When the heroes return to their place of residence a note arrives saying “Time’s up – Tommy Boscone”.

Act 1

On the evening of the League of Adventure Seekers’ annual dinner, the city is awash with rumours of an epidemic of blackmail and extortion in which no-one’s secrets are safe. During the dinner the meeting is overrun by a new menace. Giant rampaging Albino Alligators burst in on the diners and attempt to kill the guest of honour, Marion Ribbensberg. After the attack is beaten back, Ribbensberg invites the heroes to stay and defend the city against this rising threat. The following morning the kidnap (by alligator) of two of the children of two of the city’s major mob figures, along with the disappearance of numerous others (including two of the heroes friends) is reported. The heroes are notified by Detective Tony Wells (a secret supporter of the League’s work) that an alligator has been trapped in the basement of the Pendleton Gallery where their two friends disappeared.

Act 2

The trapped alligator is trying hard to rejoin its compatriots so the heroes follow it back to its nest. Doing so the heroes encounter an abandoned nest in which their two friends are caged and waiting to be fed to the creatures. When one of the cages is opened a switch is triggered that sends a deadly electrical charge through the other cage killing the occupant instantly. Tegan Rodriguez, driven to the edge of her sanity by grief, blames the heroes for the loss of her husband.

Leaving the scene the heroes are intercepted by members of the Falcone crime family who take them to a meeting with the head of the family, Jerry Falcone. Jerry Falcone orders the heroes to act as his emissaries delivering the ransom for his missing daughter to the designated drop location. The heroes do so and are met by Cinqo Tavolli (former cappo to the Falcone family, now working for the Tremeres) who is acting as the Tremere emissary. They place the loot on a slab that begins to drop down opening the cage in which Jocelyn Falcone and Marco Tremere are located (hanging over a pit full of hungry alligators), but Cinqo grabs the loot and tries to escape with it. The cage drops away and the alligators feast on both prisoners.

Pursuing Cinqo through the tunnels the heroes recover the money, but he escapes.

Falcone is desolate at the loss of his daughter and orders open season on the Tremere crime family. Cinqo convinces the Tremere’s that the deaths were caused by the heroes (working for the Falcones’) and so a mob war begins. Jerry Falcone instructs the heroes to leave town (under escort) for their own safety. At the train station the thugs who are escorting them receive word that Jerry Falcone has been assassinated by a sniper and that Eadie Tremere has been killed by an explosion. As they hurry off Claire Templeton, reporter for the Tribune approaches the heroes. She has evidence that Tommy Boscone (of the Falcone Family) and Dillon Tremere (of the Tremere Family) are colluding with an unknown third party to gain control of the two families.

She plays a tape of Tommy Boscone talking to an indistinct third party about how a rapprochement with the Tremere family can be accomplished after the assassinations. Mention is also made of the transfer of a large number of shares to a holding company on behalf of the indistinct voice for “services rendered”. When asked what guarantees Tremere cooperation the voice states that a similar deal has been made with Dillon Tremere. Claire is also aware that an alligator carcass has been recovered from the bomb site where Eadie Tremere was killed and has been transported to the city morgue. She offers to drive the heroes there.

As they approach the exit to the station a side door opens and Cinqo Tavolli, armed with a strange weapons appears, and motions the group into the stairwell and up onto the roof. He demands that Claire hand over the evidence she has gathered and in exchange he will let her live and allow the heroes to take her out of town with them.

If not, he will kill them all. Claire refuses to comply and Tavolli shoots her with his strange weapon. It is an electronic disruptor and it both stops her heart and destroys her taped evidence. The heroes charge Tavolli who, after a short struggle, tumbles off the roof to his death, but not before dropping the disruptor. Her heart has only stopped briefly and can be restored by the quick application of CPR. She is resuscitated and placed in an ambulance. As she is wheeled away she gives the heroes the name of the Medical Examiner (Theo Tyrone) who is examining the alligator corpse.

Unwelcome in the city by either mob (now that the Bosses are dead) and with vital evidence destroyed only the morgue remains a viable avenue for clues. At the morgue the heroes discover a wallet has been recovered from the animal’s insides along with human remains. In it are an id card, and a meal card for the Pevensee Street Mission. Apparently, the wallet belonged to a homeless man (Herb Whitman) who was eaten by the creature. Asking among the cities homeless the heroes discover that the Pevensee Street Mission itself is boarded up but hosts a soup kitchen once a week on the sidewalk out front. It has a very unsavoury reputation and it is rumoured that folk who break in to sleep there overnight tend to go missing. Locating the mission, the heroes discover that it is indeed abandoned and boarded up. Breaking in, they walk a short distance down the hall only to have the floor open up beneath them sliding them down into a cage beneath the building that sits on a ledge overlooking a huge nest of alligators.

Act 3

At a control panel not far away, sits a cloaked man in a wheelchair. The machinery he is working with listens to vibrations in the pipes and plumbing of the city that allows him to listen in on conversations anywhere pipes are exposed. By means of this he has been carrying out his campaign of blackmail and extortion. He congratulates the heroes on getting so far and discovering all that they have but, sadly, points out that they have reached the end of the road. In a few moments he will depart and, once the winch is set in motion, the heroes will be lowered into the alligator pit where they will become food for his adoring minions. When told that he will not get away with his attempt to take control of the city’s crime families he laughs and says that this was all merely a fund raising exercise, the first step towards his greater goal. Laughing he starts the winch and leaves.

The heroes use the electronic disruptor to wreck the winch engine and get the cage door open; they then burst out of the pit to give chase to the villain. He hurtles along the sewer tunnels ahead of the heroes trying to make good his escape but topples off a bridge over a dark pit into unfathomable darkness. The body is never found.

The disruptor has wrecked the listening machine beyond repair and the alligators, no longer under his control disperse into the sewers never to be seen again. In coming months it becomes obvious that the Tremere and Falcone families are now one mob, but the ultimate power behind the families is unknown. The heroes are now very unwelcome in the city having failed to apprehend the villain, being hated by both crime families (because of the possibility they may know about the assassinations), being shunned by their friends (because of the friend they failed to save), and being distrusted by the police (because of the unbelievable nature of their story). On the positive side, Claire Templeton (alive and recovering in hospital) is now a staunch ally, and the deaths by alligator attack seem to have come to an end, as has the wave of blackmail that had been washing over the city.